Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen
by StBridget
Summary: Only an insane person like Steve would insist on going to a crime scene while sick. It's up to Danny to take care of him.


Hawaii Five-0 is property of CBS and its creators.

A/N: Delighted over on AO3 wrote a sick!Steve fic, and it inspired me. Hope you like it!

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Danny almost missed the text. He was asleep when the alert went off, and he blindly reached for his phone. Danny nearly fell asleep again before he brought it to his face, peering at it bleary-eyed. It was from Steve. _We have a case_.

WTF? Why was Steve _texting _him about a case in the middle of the night? Danny tried to focus on the time on his phone. 3:07. Why didn't Steve just call? There was no guarantee a text would wake Danny up. Did Steve just assume Danny was up? Granted, that was usually the case, but Danny had been sleeping soundly, for once. Danny clumsily typed out a response. _Be right there_.

_Negative_ came the reply after a minute or so. _Meet you there._

What was with Steve? Danny always swung by for him. Danny checked the address. Steve's was even on the way. Maybe Steve was already on the way. _Are you halfway there already with your crazy driving?_

There was a longer pause this time then. _No. Just running behind_.

This was getting stranger and stranger. Steve was never running behind; he was always bitching about having to wait for Danny to "do his hair just like a damn girl, I swear, Danno, you're worse than my sister." Screw what Steve said; Danny was definitely stopping by.

The house was mostly dark when Danny got there, just one small lamp glowing from the bedroom. Was Steve even up? That was really unusual. Maybe he was on his way out the door? Danny watched, but no one came out of the house. Huh. Okay, Danny was going in.

Danny let himself into the house. "Steve?" he called. "Hey, Steve, you here?" No response, but Danny thought he heard something from the bedroom. He carefully made his way up the stairs, one hand on his gun just in case. He reached the bedroom and saw Steve slumped on the bed, towel wrapped around his waist. The shower was running in the background.

Now, Danny was concerned. "Hey, Steve, what's up? You're not even showered yet. That's not like you."

Steve started at Danny's voice, and that was another odd thing—Steve was a SEAL. Danny was never able to sneak up on him. Never. How had he managed it this time? Danny watched in alarm as Steve lost his balance and toppled over, landing on the floor with a thud and not moving.

Danny's worry shot through the roof. He rushed over to Steve. Danny placed a hand on Steve's shoulder, and Steve jerked again. "Babe, hey, it's okay, it's just me."

Steve looked up at Danny, blinking as if trying to bring his partner into focus. He looked at Danny with red-rimmed eyes. Was Steve crying? Why would he be doing that? Danny wracked his brain but couldn't come up with a reason. "Steve, what's wrong?" Danny asked in alarm.

"Danny?" Steve croaked. Danny would think his voice was just rough with sleep, but it sounded like speaking was actually painful for Steve. No wonder he'd texted instead of called-not just because he was having trouble speaking—Steve was afraid Danny would catch on that he wasn't feeling well. "What are you doing here?"

"We had a call, remember?" Danny said, wrapping his arms around Steve's shoulders to help him up. Steve staggered to his feet and sank heavily back down onto the bed.

"We did?"

"Yeah, we did. Are you sure you're okay?" Danny peered more closely at Steve. He noticed Steve's face was flushed, and his nose was red.

Steve let out a sniffle before giving a visible shake as though to bring himself back to the present. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just moving slowly."

"Uh-huh," Danny said, unconvinced. "That's why you fell over when I came up."

"You just startled me, that's all," Steve said. He braced his hands on either side of his body and levered himself up with effort. "See, everything's fine. I just have to get dressed, and I'm good to go."

Before Danny could respond, Steve wobbled and pitched forward. Danny barely caught him, staggering under Steve's greater weight. "I don't think so, babe. The only place you're going is back to bed."

"No, Danny, I have to get to the scene." Steve struggled to get up again, but Danny held him in place by the shoulders.

"Absolutely not," Danny said, firmly.

"But, I'm in charge of the task force. I have to be there!" Steve protested.

"Steve, how many people are on the task force?"

Steve had to think about it. "Six. Seven if you include Jerry, but he's not up to a crime scene."

"That's right," Danny said. "And how many of those are named Steve McGarrett?"

Steve looked puzzled. "Just me. What are you getting at, Danny?"

"What I'm getting at," Danny said, "is that there are five people on the task force not named Steve McGarrett. Therefore, there are five reasons you, Steve McGarrett, don't have to be there."

"But. . ." Steve started.

"Nope, no buts," Danny said. "Just because you're our fearless leader doesn't mean the rest of us aren't perfectly capable of handling a crime scene."

"Danny," Steve whined.

"Not listening," Danny said. "You're going back to bed, Steven, and that's final."

Steve heaved a sigh. "Fine. But call me if you need me."

"We won't," Danny assured him. He watched as Steve leaned back and closed his eyes. Would wonders never cease? The big oaf was actually going to listen to him for once.

Danny should have known it was too good to be true.

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Danny was talking to Duke when someone came up behind him. He didn't need to hear the wheezing to know who it was. Big, dumb lug. Of course he couldn't stay in bed like a normal human being. Danny didn't even turn around. "Steven! I told you to stay in bed!"

Steve let out a couple more wheezes and several coughs. Okay, that was new, and definitely not good. "You need me."

"I thought we went over this," Danny said, exasperated. "We do not need you." He raised his voice. "Hey, Lou, do we need Steve?"

Lou lumbered over. "Nah, man, we got this. It's looks pretty straight forward. Got a suspect and everything. Only reason the governor asked for us is this property belongs to one of his aides."

"Did he do it?" Steve asked.

"You don't need to concern yourself with that," Danny said. "You just need to concern yourself with going back to bed." Danny peered at Steve. He looked worse than he had at his house. His eyes were even redder, glazed, and watering. Snot was dripping from his nose. Steve wiped it with his sleeve while Danny watched. Gross. Steve's face was even more flushed. Sweat was beading on his brow, but Steve shivered as if he were cold. Danny placed a hand on Steve's forehead. "Christ, Steve, you're burning up! How did you even get here?"

"I drove," Steve said, as though driving a car in his condition was a perfectly normal thing to do. Maybe it was if you were Steve McGarrett, but Steve was definitely not a normal person. Normal people stayed in bed when they were sick like they were supposed to.

"You what!?" Danny should have guessed. Of course, Steve would drive himself to a crime seen when he was sick as a dog. Good thing no one was hurt. "Well, you're not driving yourself home."

"Of course not," Steve said. "I'm staying here."

"Oh, no, you're not," Danny said. "You, my friend, are going home and going to bed. And you'll stay there even if I have to tie you to the bed."

"Danny's right," Lou said before Steve could respond. "You look like shit, man. Get some sleep."

"I don't need to. . ." Steve began. Suddenly, he crumpled, hitting the ground in a dead faint.

"Oh, for Christ sake," Danny said. "That does it. Help me get him in the car, Lou. I'm taking him home."

"Are you sure you don't need to take him to a hospital?" Lou asked, concerned.

Danny sighed. "Probably, but I don't want to deal with the fallout. I'll get him home and pump him full of meds."

"If you say so," Lou said, dubious. He reached down and shook Steve's shoulder. "Hey, man, you with us?"

Steve stirred. He looked up at Lou with unfocused eyes. "Wha' hap'n'd?"

"You fainted," Lou said. "Let's get you to the car and get you home to bed, okay?"

"'kay," Steve agreed, slurring the word.

Now, Danny was really worried. Steve must be really sick if he was agreeing. Between them, Danny and Lou helped Steve to his feet and draped an arm around each of their shoulders. Steve was mostly dead weight, but they managed to get him to the car. Steve was too out of it to put on his seat belt, so Danny buckled him in.

Steve was in and out the whole way home. Occasionally, he would say something, but it was mostly random babbling. Danny stopped by a pharmacy to pick up some meds. He was reluctant to leave Steve in the car, but he didn't have much choice. Danny engaged the child locks just to be safe.

Danny was relieved to come back and find Steve where he left him, slumped over in the seat. He drove the rest of the way to Steve's house. That part accomplished, the next task was to get Steve into the house.

Danny opened the passenger door. "Hey, Steve, think you can get into the house on your own?"

Steve blinked at Danny, bemused. "Where am I?"

"Home," Danny said. "Come on, let's get you in the house."

"Huh?" Steve said.

Okay, obviously, Steve was going to be no help at all. Danny unfastened Steve's seat belt and maneuvered him out of the car, nearly crashing to the ground when Steve fell heavily into his arms. Danny managed to keep his feet, barely. Together, they staggered into the house, Danny bearing most of the weight. Danny took one look at the stairs and decided there was no way he was getting Steve up them, so he lowered Steve to the couch. Steve immediately listed to the side. Danny caught him and lowered him the rest of the way so he was half lying, half sitting. Danny carefully removed Steve's boots and swung his legs onto the couch. There. Steve should be at least somewhat comfortable.

Danny measured out the meds. He coaxed Steve into taking them before helping him lie down again. Then, Danny fetched a damp cloth. He ran it over Steve's face and arms then stripped Steve off his shirt and wiped down his chest. Steve leaned into the touch. "Feels good."

"Good," Danny said. "Hopefully, it will help." He got up and moved to put the cloth away, but Steve stopped him with a hand on the arm.

"Stay," he said.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Danny said. "Just have to put this away, then I'll be right back. Somebody has to make sure you don't do something crazy like try to swim 10 miles in your condition."

"Wouldn't do that," Steve said.

"Oh, yes, you would," Danny said. "Case in point, you already drove yourself to the crime scene."

"Needed me."

"No, we didn't," Danny said. "You're home now, though, and you're staying here." Danny put the cloth away, then came back and started to sit in the armchair.

"No, closer," Steve protested.

"I can't get any closer unless I put your head in my lap," Danny said. Steve looked at him, hopefully. Danny gave a put-upon sigh. "Fine." He moved to the couch and placed Steve's head in his lap. "Comfy?"

"Mmm-hmm," Steve hummed, contentedly. He closed his eyes and started drifting off.

Danny stroked Steve's hair, pleased to see him relax under Danny's touch. Danny marveled at his big, bad partner curled up with his head in Danny's lap, looking for all the world like Charlie when the boy was asleep. Danny smiled softly. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.


End file.
